Cleveland Indians will try to right the ship in Houston

By
David Glasier, The News-Herald

Friday, May 19, 2017

The Indians have been scuffling.

They lost four of six games during their just-concluded homestand and didn’t look particularly impressive doing it. The starting pitching, predicted to be the team’s strength, has veered from inconsistent to poor. Corey Kluber, the No. 1 starter and former Cy Young Award winner, is on the disabled list with lower back pain.

Carlos Carrasco, the No. 2 starter, was taking care of his business until his last start, when he was forced from the mound in fourth inning with a pectoral strain. He’s supposed to be OK and is scheduled to start again on May 23 when the Indians are in Cincinnati to face the Reds in interleague play.

Danny Salazar and Josh Tomlin, the Nos. 3 and 4 starters, are healthy but giving up home runs and extra-base hits in quantities that are making it difficult for the Indians to stay in the games they start.

The No. 5 starter, Trevor Bauer, continues to be an enigma. He’s been good in some starts, bad in some starts and both in some starts.

It falls to Bauer to pitch well enough in the series opener at Houston on May 19 to give the Indians a chance to snap their two-game losing skid.

The challenge is there, as the Astros own big-league baseball’s best record at 29-12 and have a commanding lead in the American League West Division. They took two of three games from the Indians in late April at Progressive Field.